Where America once shopped: Woolworth's, Ames, Toys 'R' Us, Blockbuster and more
Plus: A celebratory bash for Lucy the Elephant, a MetroCard relic haunts the subway, and a vanished sign for a beloved California flower shop
Last month, I shared some of my photos of the relics of chain stores that are defunct (or almost there). That post inspired me to put together this little video — watch it below — featuring photos of 21 stores that are no more, or are far from what they once were.
Here they are, in order of appearance in the video, which you can watch below.
Ames — Horseheads, New York
Woolworth’s — Bakersfield, California
Kmart — Hamilton, Montana
Toys “R” Us — Durham, North Carolina
KB Toys — Jackson Heights, New York
Blockbuster Video — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Suncoast Video — Jacksonville, North Carolina
Ben Franklin — Middlebury, Vermont
J.J. Newberry Co. — Owego, New York
Thom McAn — Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Buster Brown — Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Sears — Hackensack, New Jersey
Lord & Taylor — King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Borders — New York, New York
Bradlees - Hazlet, New Jersey
Caldor — Flushing, New York
A&P — Clinton, New Jersey
Pathmark — Yonkers, New York
Two Guys — remnant discovered in Kearny, New Jersey
Sleepy’s — New York, New York
Rexall Drugs — Haverstraw, New York
I’ll be making more videos like this soon. Which stores would you add to the list?
Lucy the Elephant’s grand unveiling after renovation!
I’ve been keeping you up to date on Lucy the Elephant and her road to restoration. Finally, on Wednesday night, she was officially unveiled after 15 months of work.
Lucy, the oldest roadside attraction in America, now has a gleaming new $2.4 million metal skin.
"She looks incredible," said Executive Director Richard Helfant of the Margate, New Jersey, landmark. "We were very busy yesterday with all the excitement. It has been a long, long 15 months."
Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Born “Elephant Bazaar” on July 20, 1881, at 90 tons of wood and metal, the pachyderm is the last of her two contemporaries built on the Atlantic. Elephantine Colossus burned down in 1896 in Coney Island and a smaller Lucy, named the Light of Asia, was demolished in 1900.
Earlier Lucy coverage on The Retrologist HERE and HERE.
The Relics of the MetroCard
By the end of 2023, New York’s MetroCard, our little yellow bendable passport to the subway and buses, will be phased out, replaced with a tap-and-go system using phones, credit cards or an OMNY card for those who want to stick with cash.
The MetroCard was introduced in 1994 — it was initially blue — but took several years to win over New Yorkers who were faithful to their tokens, which were finally axed in 2003.
Likewise, many residents have been loath to abandon their MetroCards in favor of the OMNY system. (I was among those people. Up until the pandemic, I religiously used my MetroCard monthly card, which I stopped buying during the start of the lockdown. When I took my first subway ride a few months later, I used my phone to ride the rails, and never looked back.)
Anyway, as we say goodbye to the MetroCard, I will from time to time share relics of the MetroCard from its glory days, like this flanged sign at the Columbus Circle subway station, attached to a now-closed newsstand. I shot this on my way to work this week.
A gem of Santa Barbara, the Victor the Florist sign is gone
I’ve been in love with the Victor the Florist sign in Santa Barbara, California, since I first photographed it, on film, in May 2006. I returned in May 2021, and it was closed. By the end of the year, it was confirmed the store was no more, and the sign was reported to have been taken down earlier this month in a report on Site Line.
On Wednesday, Site Line told us that the new tenant in the space, Lotus Cabinetry, had itself not taken down the sign.
“The owners had it removed and may have kept it. We plan to do both a wooden hanging sign, similar to the other tenants of the building, as well as vinyl lettering on one of the windows,” Lotus told Site Line’s Erik Torkells.
Notes From the Road
Nostalgia is big! It’s probably part of the reason why you are reading this. This piece explores the resurrection of vinyl, retro video game consoles, old-school headphones, “dumbphones” from the early 2000s and more. Astonishing factoid from the CNN piece:
The continued resurgence of physical music is one of the most obvious examples: In 2011, vinyl sales made up just 1.7% of physical sales of music, according to MRC data. By 2021, they made up 50.4%.
The Dallas BBQ in New York’s East Village has closed, a few days earlier than expected, EV Grieve reports. See tweet above.
The Newburgh Mall in New York state has turned the old space of anchor store the Bon Ton into a casino run by Resorts World. [ABC7NY]
Liberty Village in Flemington, New Jersey, was the nation’s first major outlet mall when it opened in 1981. Its final holiday season before closing has been a ghostly affair. [NJ.com]
And speaking of malls, the Eastland Mall in Columbus, Ohio, is closing after 54 years. [WBNS]
McDonald’s unveils its first fully automated store. Fast food is no longer fast, especially with pandemic-era labor shortages. How will this experiment play out? It’s funny how the old Automat really was ahead of its time. [CBS News]
LOVE this: Check out these miniature recreations of beloved Brooklyn businesses. [Brooklyn Paper]
The owner of Nasto’s, who helped turn the Newark, New Jersey, ice-cream shop into an institution, has died. [NJ.com]
Here’s your chance to tour the inside of the famous 1872 High Bridge Tower in upper Manhattan! Slots are still open for the tour on Monday, Jan. 2. Start 2023 on a HIGH mark! [Event Brite]
The Indiana warehouse seen famously in the film “A League of Their Own” has been sold. [14 News]
New York state’s governor announces preservation awards for 14 buildings and structures. [News release]
Georgetown, Texas, landmark Crockett Gardens Falls has collapsed. [Fox 7]
A tour of Baltimore’s dive bars — check out the sign for the Mount Royal Tavern. I must visit! [Baltimore Magazine]
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